Shepaug and Gilbert own two of the finest baseball pedigrees in the Berkshire League. Between them, they have own 10 state championships.

But as their shrinking enrollments have turned them into two of the smallest schools in the conference, the programs have suffered.

Along with five state titles, Shepaug has won or shared an astonishing 27 of the 53 baseball titles since the Berkshire League came into being, but hasn't had a winning record in the past five seasons.

Gilbert, which won five state titles from 1973-93, finished second in the BL with a 15-7 record in 2012, but that's the only winning record for the Yellowjackets in the past 10 years.

Both programs have seen turnouts slip recently. Neither program fielded a full junior varsity this spring, and a lack of numbers has forced some younger players into varsity action earlier than their head coaches would prefer.

"This is our third year without a JV program," said Gilbert athletic director and baseball coach Pat Cooke. "We're putting a competitive team on the field (the Yellowjackets won their last four games this year), but we don't have kids developing like they should. We're forced to put freshmen out there against varsity teams, and you know how that's probably going to go."

Gilbert had 316 students last year, according to the CIAC, or roughly half the number it had when Cooke graduated in 1989.

A private school that serves as Winsted's public high school, Gilbert has taken an innovative approach to its enrollment problems. There were 28 international students — 26 from China, two from France — enrolled this past year. Next fall, the school expects to have 45 from overseas.

Nine girls from China tried out for tennis, which they had never played before, because they found it similar to badminton, which they had, according to first-year coach Courtney Mullaney. They told her that as new members of Gilbert "they would do anything to help the school," said Mullaney, who added the girls, despite the team's 0-16 record, improved greatly during the season.

There were also from three to five international students on the girls volleyball and boys tennis, soccer, swimming and baseball teams.

"It helps with numbers, which will help overall," said Cooke. "The three on the baseball team had little experience, but are picking up the game quickly. But they're one or two years away from contributing. We're getting those kids out, which is great. But we're still waiting for Yao Ming to come through the door."

Shepaug had 20 players in its entire baseball program this past spring. At times, three players started for both the varsity and JV teams, which meant those games had to be scheduled on different days.

"Last year, we were kind of treading water. This year, it was prohibitive to playing on the same day," said Shepaug coach Scott Werkhoven, whose club was also hit with injuries.

Shepaug had 319 students in the high school, according to the CIAC. Region 12 has seen its total enrollment decline by one-third over the past decade, and the trend is expected to continue for the next 10 years.

"It goes beyond the declining enrollment," said Werkhoven, who just finished his 10th season. "Another thing that limits us is specialization. It used to be the better athletes all played three sports. Now many of them play one sport year-round.

"By the time some of them realize they want to play more, it's too late. Baseball is skill-specific. If you haven't played it in a while, it takes a lot of work."

While other area districts have discussed mergers, Shepaug, one of the more isolated schools in the area, would seem to have few options in that regard.

One idea proposed by some people in its member towns of Washington, Roxbury and Bridgewater has been to close the high school and pay the tuition for parents to send their children to neighboring districts.

"I don't think our region would ever allow that," said athletic director Matt Perachi. "It's the heart of the community. Too many people value the school system to allow that to happen. We just have to be creative in how we attract more young families to these towns."

Follow Us

Post a reader comment

We encourage your feedback and dialog. Please be civil and respectful.If you're witty, to the point and quotable, your reader comments may also be included on the Around the Towns page of The Sunday Republican. Readers must be registered and logged in to post comments on the site. Registration is free. Click Here to register.
A Subscription is not required to post comments only a Registration.